Deep In It

This is what my world looks like for the next month. I'm deep in Urbana mode, working on the handbook (which will be about 135 pages). My first task: maps! I'm creating maps of the America's Center, the Exhibit Hall, downtown hotels, downtown restaurants, MetroLink stops, walking paths for outer hotels, it just keeps going!

There's part of me that loves the challenge of organizing information but also feels the overwhelming pressure to get it right so that it makes sense to the 18,000 participants who will need to navigate St. Louis during their time at Urbana 12.

Pray for wisdom, steadfastness and endurance in the next four weeks!

Encouraged

my friend, former student and now colleague, Grace

Yesterday one of my former students, Grace, now on staff with InterVarsity, posted this as her status update on Facebook:

"writing up a church presentation and remembering the impact InterVarsity made in my walk with Christ - thankful to Laura M. Li who met with me almost 6 years ago to explain the Gospel message which led to me rededicating my life to Jesus."

How awesome is that?

I can't tell you how encouraging it is to be credited for helping a student rededicate her life to Christ. This is my raison d'etre. :) This is why I continue to devote my life to serving Christ through InterVarsity's ministry. We're truly in the business of changing lives, and I am so honored to be a part of it!

Seriously, how fun is my job?

Urbana 12 shirt that I designed

Welcome in 20 languages shirt that I designed

Bethany, Jane, Gisella, Drew, and Justin modeling all of our shirts.

Fun thing #1: Designing shirts that students and staff can wear to help promote InterVarsity.

Fun thing #2: Doing a photo shoot with all the interns wearing these shirts.

Fun thing #3: Compositing all the images together to make it look like they were standing side by side when in reality I took individual shots.

My job kind of rocks.

8 shoots in 11 Days

As I mentioned in my video update, this summer I've been learning photography. In the span of two weeks in June and July, I coordinated and shot eight separate shoots for various groups and events! It has been a huge learning curve but also very fun. I've enjoyed spending time away from my computer and having some more hands on work where I get to interact with people.

Here's a sample of some of those photo shoots and my thoughts on the experience. (Click on collage to view larger.)

Orientation for New Staff - group shot and portraits
The group shot involved me climbing up on a twelve-foot ladder and shouting out to the group as I was taking pictures. The ladder didn't scare me so much, but having 150 people staring at me did!

We also provided time for new staff to get a professional photo taken while they toured our office. These photos will be used in their communication to donors and potential donors. Together with Matt and Jane (an intern), we photographed over 120 portraits! It took a lot of energy to make this process go quickly and smoothly. While I wasn't taking photos, I was holding up a mirror for people waiting in line to check their hair and teeth. :)

Chapter Builders - group shot and portraits
This cohort of staff are being trained to build chapters (InterVarsity groups that already exist and have potential for growth in size, particularly through evangelism and missional activities). These photos will be used as they communicate to donors about this strategic ministry.

The guy in maroon might look familiar. It's Fred Bailey, my old boss from Great Lakes East!

Campus "Student" Photo Shoot
We recruited a group of young new staff to pose as students and get a variety of shots around campus. We will use these photos in national communication materials such as brochures, receipt inserts, and web articles.

The challenge was to create scenes in which these staff could look like they were doing student things, such as Bible study, conversation, looking thoughtful, or just having fun. However, this was a really great group of staff and they were very natural in front of the camera!

Chapter Planters - group shot and portraits
This group of staff are being trained to plant brand new chapters on campuses where there are no existing InterVarsity ministries. Each planter has a coach, so I had to take both portraits and double or triple portraits. The most challenging part of this shoot was that it was 105º and extremely humid that afternoon! In addition to the energy it took to corral a large group of staff, the extreme heat meant that I was pretty much dripping in sweat for the whole hour!

More Illustrations

Here are a few more illustrations I did for InterVarsity's blog!

For a post titled,"I Got My Butt Kicked By Oprah"

For a post titled, "My Kite Keeps Crashing"

 For a post yet to be published! You'll have to check back on the blog to see when it shows up. :)

I said YES! at Urbana

I couldn't tell you the names of most of the speakers or what they said specifically. I don't remember the lyrics to the awesome songs we sang. I don't remember the name of my small group leader or any of the seminars I went to.

But I distinctly remember the moment during Urbana 03 when I said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

scrapbook pages of my Urbana 03 experience

We were in the Assembly Hall, the worship team was playing some song, and 16,000+ voices were singing at the top of their lungs. All the moments that week led up to that one, when I raised my hands in surrender and said, "Yes Jesus, I will follow you wherever you call me. I want to live a kingdom-oriented life."

At the time, I had no idea what saying yes would mean. It was a little scary that there was so much still unknown. But at the same time, I felt peace. I knew that committing to be a part of his kingdom was the wisest decision I could make. It was simple: there was nothing else I wanted more for my life.

apparently even then I was designing for Urbana!

It's been almost nine years since that moment. Since then I've been to two other Urbanas and spent almost six years on staff with InterVarsity. Some of my experiences have been challenging, frustrating, discouraging. Others have been overwhelmingly joyful and fulfilling. But I don't have any regrets to saying yes.

At Urbana, God will take a hold of your heart and give you a glimpse into the amazing plan he has for redeeming the world. He will call you to join with him in this worthy mission. And if you say yes, it's like no other "conference high" - it's the real deal. Your life will forever be changed, and you will know no greater joy.

I can't say where else God will bring me in the next nine years, but I know I want to keep saying "Yes, Your Majesty."

Urbana 12 is just months away. Register now, it's worth it!

>> REGISTER HERE <<

Go here to read the blog post I wrote just days after Urbana 03.

What does it look like to be a world changer?

Part of InterVarsity's vision is to "develop world changers."

As a designer and visual communicator, it's actually kind of challenging to show people what a world changer is or looks like. To invoke the idea of someone who is ready to impact the world using all the things they've learned through their InterVarsity experience, we often use images of graduates. I've been learning photography for a few months now and recently did a couple of photo shoots to gather images of graduates.

We recruited some local InterVarsity students who were graduating and got them to wear their caps and gowns. It was a fun shoot because they were all friends and it was really easy to capture moments where they were laughing and having fun.

These are some of my favorite shots. Maybe you'll see some of them on an InterVarsity brochure in the near future!

Later that week I also snuck into UW Madison's commencement ceremony (it was a public event so I didn't really have to sneak in) and took some photos of a larger scale of this idea of "world changers." It was challenging framing the images so that people's faces wouldn't be shown. But there are a few that I think will work.